HAVERGAL BRIAN (1876-1972): Symphonies No. 11 and No. 15, Concert Overture: For Valour, Comedy Overture: Doctor Merryheart.

Description: The Eleventh is a noble work, less hectic in its presentation of ideas than the (not entirely fair) stereotype of Brian's later music. The orchestration is surprisingly spare, though not lacking in sumptuousness - an instructive exercise is to compare the big middle movement with your copy of the Elgar Third, which seems uncannily to point the way towards Brian. For Valour is like occasional Elgar, and Dr. Merryheart is a grand exposition of just how much Richard Strauss' orchestral technique mattered to Brian in the early years of the century. The 1960 No. 15 is a capricious work, flinging ideas around, but with a great underlying nobility and, indeed, tenderness. RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra; Tony Rowe, Adrian Leaper. Original 2000 Marco Polo release.